Only Time Can Tell
by Bambichick515
Summary: Nuada is still convince that all humans are greedy and selfish, only thinking of themselves. However, after being compelled to work for the BPRD, a young woman joins the team. Will this woman make Nuada have a new perception towards humans? R&R Please.
1. Chapter 1

It had been heartbreaking. Watching in horror as the crown he had worked so hard to reclaim, was destroyed in seconds as Liz melted it with her power. Nuada had been given no choice but to renew the truce with the humans and never again try to wage a war against them. He refused to submit himself to any kind of imprisonment, and that he would simply go back into exile. Hellboy frowned against the idea, thinking that Nuada would just turn his back on their agreement. That is until his sister suggested he work at the BPRD.

The group hesitated at the suggestion at first but decided all together that it would be best for Nuada. They could at least then keep an eye on him. He still hadn't been convinced himself that it was a good idea, but it wasn't as though he had a choice in this.

He still hated humans with a passion however. No matter what his sister had tried to tell him, he still found humans to be greedy and selfish, only thinking about themselves and their short little lives. Except, his thinking had started to change somewhat about the human female, Liz. Regardless of her short temper, she still cared for others. Most of the human woman would find Red despicable and would not want to come near him, yet Liz still loved him, showing that with her emotions and new born twins.

Nuada smiled at the thought of the twins. When they were first born, they were completely red, just like their father. They each had a tail, and on first look, Nuada had thought he was staring at possible mirror images of Red when he was a child. The only difference was that the twins were born without a stone hand or horns.

Not long after exiting their mother, who was still screaming bloody murder at Red, the twins ignited in fire. Everyone in the room had a panic attack, not knowing that the twins had been born with their mother's powers. With the yelling and inflamed children, Red had fainted. Luckily, Nuada had stayed in his rooms, not wishing to witness a human giving birth.

Looking up, Nuada looked at the clock that hung from the wall opposite of him. It read 11:48, which meant that Nuada had to leave soon to go to the transport hanger.

The team had been informed that the BPRD wanted to recruit another member; a young woman at the tender age of 23 with strange abilities. Apparently, she was able to manipulate the shadows and darkness into anything, whether it was a simple flower or something deadly such as a sword.

Apparently, she had learned of her powers when she was young, and not knowing what to do with them, she experimented. It was hard for her at first because whenever she would go out into the sun, she would realize that her shadow was bigger in proportion to her body. As she continued to learn about her powers, she had started to hurt herself with her own shadow; bruises, scratches and sometimes a broken bone here and there. Too scared to go to the hospital to tend to her wounds, she would try to nurse to them herself, but had unfortunately been left with a few scars.

Nuada wondered why they needed a new member. The five of them, meaning Liz, Red, Abe Johann and himself were doing well so far. Except for a few more cases where Red exposed himself to the public, all of them never had trouble with anything. Nuada thought that a new member would be a hassle to the team, creating as much trouble as Red did himself. Not only this, but he was loathing to get to know another human agent. He had enough trouble bonding with the ones already working at the bureau.

Shaking his head, Nuada forced himself to get off the bed. In just a few minutes, the woman would be arriving and Manning wanted to talk to them before she entered. He apparently needed to warn them about her powers. He pushed back all the thoughts of bailing out of the meeting. Nuada would have liked it best if he could meet her of his own accord, rather than be forced to.

Nuada walked out of his room, locking it behind him. He walked the few hundred yards that separated him and the transport hanger. He turned the corner and found Abe, Nuala and Johann waiting already. Red and Liz were of course missing, obviously late. As they always are for everything, it usually being Red's fault.

Yelling was heard all the way down the corridor, many agents running out of the raging female's path. No doubt was Liz on fire as she walked and shouted towards the library.

"I mean it Red, if you don't start doing your share of diaper changes..." Liz screeched at him

"Fine, I will. Just calm down," Red said trying to placate her.

Liz's nose flared as she closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down. The fire that engulfed her body gradually extinguished, leaving the cross pendant on her neck glowing a flaming red. Just then, Agent Manning entered the Library, looking quite frustrated.

"Liz, next time, try to keep your temper down. You burned one of the agents," Manning said.

Nuada looked over at Liz who had a worried expression on her face. She asked Manning if he was okay and Manning replied that it was just a minor burn that should heal in about a week. The worried expression faded from Liz's face but her eyes still held a bit of concern.

"Now, this new recruit's name is Samantha Falon. Be careful around her and do not let your shadow within touching distance of her own. With just your shadow, she could kill you. Now, Samantha is a quiet girl, she tends not to speak to people, as she all but secluded herself from society at a young age of 13."

"Why did she do that?" Liz asked in confusion.

"At 13, she was said to have seriously hurt three of her classmates at her Elementary school, while experimenting with her powers. This had a great effect on her, as she felt deep regret, thinking it was best if she did not interact with other people."

An agent entered the library, signaling for Manning.

"Sir, she has arrived."

"Alright. Now remember everyone, be nice," he said turning around only to stop to talk to Red, "And Red, unlike Johann, I suggest you keep quiet around her if you want to be breathing."

"Oh c'mon, she can't hurt me that bad," Red said waving his hands in the air.

"Don't say I warned you then," Manning muttered under his breath.

The group turned to the door, watching as a young woman entered through the library doors, surrounded by guards that constantly looked down at their shadows. She was a fairly average woman, standing at, at least five foot five, a slender build, yet clearly strong, and had long black hair. Her eyes were fixed on the group intently, as though she was surveying them with her mind. Her eyes were a strange deep blue, with specks of gray throughout. Manning approached her, careful to keep his distance.

"Welcome to the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. I will introduce you to our team. First here is Abraham Sapien, our resident physic," Manning said leading the woman to Abe.

"Nice to meet you," Abe said, nodding his head once

He stuck his hand out, waiting for her to greet him. Samantha gave his hand one glance before reaching up and grasping it firmly. Nuada heard a small gasp escape from his lips and he knew that Abe was reading about Samantha through her hand.

Samantha looked at him confusedly and slowly pulled away her hand, cautious as though a wrong move would trigger something horrible. Manning pushed her slightly to Liz, but her eyes glanced back Abe who was staring at her quite surprised.

"Next, we have Liz Sherman. She is human like you, but she can control fire."

Liz demonstrated by igniting her hand in flames while waving at Samantha. Samantha smiled at the display, her shadow rising from the ground, becoming an exact replica of herself, just a shadowed version. Her shadow waved at Liz, whose expression clearly showed how impressed she was.

Manning then turned to Red, who had a goofy grin on his face, showing that he was going to have fun with this woman. Liz shook her head, noticing the same look.

"And this is Hellboy, or Red as he prefers."

Red reached out and placed a large hand on her small shoulder, engulfing it. Her eyes flickered to his hand before blinking back to his face in slight annoyance.

"Welcome to the team Darky," Red said, already making a nickname for her.

Before anyone could register what had happened, Red had started to smack himself in the forehead. His brows furrowed in confusion until he looked down onto the floor to see that her replica shadow had merged with the floor once more and was holding onto Red's shadow, forcibly making him smack himself.

Red yelped each time his palm made contact with his forehead, stumbling back a bit at the same time. Nuada stared at Samantha, seeing her glare furiously at Red. Her hands were clenched at her side, her knuckles becoming a snowy white. Apparently, she didn't like to be called names. Nuada wondered to himself if teasing was what caused her to hurt her classmates.

Nuada then knew at that moment that Red and Samantha weren't off to a good start. Especially in Red's position.

"Yes, well Samantha, this is Princess Nuala of the Unseen Realm and her brother, Prince Nuada," Manning said, pushing Samantha towards twin's direction, making her shadow unwillingly let go of Red

Samantha's gaze snapped from Red to the next two. As her eyes rested on them, they traveled up a bit until they met with the twins faces. Nuada couldn't blame the woman as her eyes widened a bit. Both elves towered over her. Nuala almost reached a height of six feet, and with her brother standing a few inches taller than her, he definitely looked down at Samantha.

Nuala's lips curved into a smile as she looked down at the girl. As Nuala's eyes radiated kindness towards the woman, her brother's held the opposite, staring at the woman with a glare, his orange eyes flaring with fierceness.

Nuada glared down at the woman, supposedly angered that he had to come to this little meeting just to meet a girl who did not have the decency to introduce herself properly. Why would Manning take his precious time away from him, time that he could have been using to practice his skills, rather than make him introduce himself to a girl that wouldn't even introduce herself to him.

Samantha simply glared back, not allowing Nuada to intimidate her in the slightest. To her, he seemed incredibly arrogant. Perhaps he too would need to be shown a lesson.

Manning noticed the Prince's glare and would not allow him to make Samantha feel in any way insignificant so he pushed her along the way, introducing her to the last member, Dr. Johann Krauss.

"And this is the paranormal expert, Dr. Johann Krauss."

Johann bowed in front of the woman and she smiled down at him.

"Well, that is the whole team. Would you like to see your room?" Manning asked her.

She turned to look at him and she nodded once. Manning then waved his hand out the door and led her out, leaving the rest of the team there to ponder about the new girl.

"I think she will be a great asset to this team. She puts Agent Hellboy right where he belongs," Johann said.

"I don't like her one bit," Red muttered, still clearly not happy about the smacking.

Nuada did not know what to think of the new girl. She did indeed put Hellboy in his place, yet she seemed rather angry and easily offended. Her eyes betrayed her annoyance. They seemed to convey a certain remorse that she had not been able to let go of. She was a bit cruel to Red, yet he was asking for it. He had a feeling her temper would easily match Red's. It could spell trouble for the team if they didn't get along.

She certainly didn't need any protecting, not that he would volunteer if she did. Of course, he was protecting people for the BPRD, but he did it because he was forced into it, not that he wanted to do it. He may live for a long time, but he didn't plan on living it all here. That would go against his condition however; this place was already like a dying prison to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Samantha was led through the dark gray halls of the BPRD, passing several human agents along the way. Most of them knew about her powers, so they would cast a nervous glance in her direction as they passed her. Samantha would ignore those glances, continuing to walk.

Manning stopped in front of a rather large metal door. It looked as though they had stolen it from a bank, as the door looked quite similar. Samantha did not know why the bureau needed such safe guard doors. Shrugging it off, she grasped the handle of the door, turning it, finding it rather hard to do so as the door was sealed tightly and weighed a ton. Literally.

"If you need anything, you can find me at my office. It's a floor up, right above your room," Manning informed her

Samantha nodded and pushed her body against the door, making it squeak in response as it was forcibly pushed. Samantha stumbled into the room, looking up to observe the layout. It was an ordinary set of quarters; a twin bed was in the middle of the room, straight across from the door Samantha had just entered. On one side of the wall, many bookshelves covered the metal wall, yet all were empty. Samantha frowned at this, forlorn that there were no books for her to read.

"There is a map of the bureau just outside your door, just in case you ever get lost," Manning said, indicating the wall to the left of the door.

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled," Manning said and disappeared.

As Manning left her standing in her room, Samantha walked up to the door, pushing against it to close it. The door closed loudly and Samantha huffed at it. If she was going to have to do this every day, she'd rather not have a door.

Samantha turned to face the room and placed her hands on her hips. She pouted, unhappy that there were no books for her to read. Sighing, Samantha grabbed her one and only bag that was set on the floor earlier by the agents. She shuffled through it, taking out the one thing she was ever good with.

She gently plucked out her twin Sais. Even with the room being dimly lit, the two weapons shined greatly. Samantha scrutinized them quickly, looking for any damage that could've happened to them on the way here. Upon seeing none, Samantha twirled them once in her hands, getting used to the feel once again.

She had been grateful that she was able to bring them here. They were her most prized possessions since she was 20, as her grandfather had given them to her. He was the only relative that did not know of her powers, or what she had done when she was little. He was currently living in Japan, and she had visited him when he called her over, telling her that he had something for her 20th birthday.

Samantha took the chance and flew from America to Japan, worried about being arrested on the way for what she had done. As she arrived at her grandfather's home, she had found out that he was a well prestiged weapon maker. As a gift from him to her, he had hand crafted a one of a kind twin Sais for her. She was surprised he would give her such weapons, as she did not know how to wield them. He did have another surprise for her though; he had experience himself on how to wield Sais, giving her lessons.

Placing both Sais in one hand, she used the other to open the door. Samantha found that opening the door with one hand was futile, so she placed her Sais in her belt gently. She grabbed the handle with both hands, gripping them tightly. As she pulled, she felt her feet slid slightly under her, so she hastily lifted a leg and planted it on the wall next to the door.

Samantha mentally cursed at the door, heaving slightly as the door opened. She walked out of the room, not taking the time to close the door. Nothing in her room was precious to her so it didn't matter who walked in or not. Samantha walked up to the map that hung just outside. She found the location of her room and scanned the map for any area large enough for her to practice. The only place that seemed remotely large enough for her practice was the library. A large frown marred Samantha's face as she did not know if she was allowed to practice there. Shrugging it off, she traced her finger from her room to the library, memorizing which turns and corridors she had make.

Walking down the hall, she noticed that many agents kept their distance from her. Samantha kept her head up, not wanting to be intimidated, and briskly walked to the library. As she saw the golden doors ahead of her, she quickened her pace.

Just as she was about to push open the doors, a cat came whizzing past her, making her stumble back a bit. She watched slightly confused, looking at the direction the cat just ran. Samantha couldn't think of why there would be cat in the bureau. Her question was quickly answered as she heard yelling from the corridor. Looking that way, she saw Liz; completely inflamed, walking in the direction the cat ran.

"Wait no! He didn't mean it!" She could hear Red yell as he ran after Liz

"I told you to keep them out of my food!" she yelled, her eyes flashing.

"I will! Just don't kill him!"

Samantha stifled a laugh and turned her attention away from them, not wanting to be burned by Liz as she passed by. Pushing against the door, she grew jealous of it as it opened with ease with just one push of her hand. Walking in, she closed the door slightly, leaving it ajar, the yells of Red and Liz echoing into the room.

With each hand, she grabbed her twin Sais from her belt, walking towards the middle of the room. She came to a halt and stared down at her shadow, debating whether or not to practice alone or with her herself. Biting her bottom lip, she decided it would help her observe her own moves if she fought against her shadow.

Swirling from the ground, her shadow became her replica. She tossed one Sai at it, watching as it caught it skillfully. Sighing, Samantha took her stance, knowing her shadow could sometimes have a personality of its own. Her shadow stared at her with blank emotionless eyes for a few seconds and Samantha wondered if it wanted to fight at all. That is until it lunged at her at an unexpected moment.

Nuada wandered the halls of the bureau, boredom evident on his face. As he passed by the library, he heard the sound of metal against metal. His brows furrowed in confusion and he walked up to the door, noticing it was slightly parted. Looking in, he noticed the new girl, Samantha training with a shadow. Upon closer look, he noticed it was her shadow.

Nuada leaned against the other side of the door that was closed and continued to watch her train. Perspiration has already started to from on her body, showing how intense she had been fighting in the last half hour. Her eyes were fixed with deep concentration as she showed her own shadow no mercy whatsoever.

Samantha continued to practice with her shadow until she decided it was enough for the day. Swiftly, she kicked her shadow's hand that held the Sai, forcing her to let go. As the Sai flew in the air, Samantha's hand reached up and caught it mid-air. Giving her shadow no time to recover from her kick, she twirled the Sai in her hands, placing them at her shadows neck.

After staying in that position for a moment, Samantha pulled herself and her Sai away from her shadow. Tucking her Sais safely into her belt, Samantha merged her shadow with herself once more and back into the ground. A piece of hair fell in front of her face, and she raised her hand, tucking it neatly behind her ear.

Nuada smirked, opening the door wide enough for him to walk through. As he walked down the steps, he reached behind him and grabbed his spear, bringing in front of him. As he lengthened his spear, it made a noise that gave off to her that someone was in the room.

Twirling on her foot, she brought one Sai up, pointing it at his neck.

Nuada raised his head as the pointed tip of the Sai dug into the bottom of his chin. He looked down his nose at Samantha who was breathing harshly.

Samantha glared at her intruder, her eyes betraying none of her surprise at it being Nuada. She slowly removed her weapon, but kept herself alert to any sharp movements from him, though unaware that one of her weapons had fallen from her belt.

"You are very skilled. Considering you have never trained with anybody other than yourself."

Samantha nodded slightly, though clearly annoyed at his presumption. She wanted to tell him that she had trained with her grandfather, but decided not to. Smiling slightly at him, she noticed the spear in his hand. Confused, she pointed to the spear and Nuada lifted it.

"Oh, I was just going to surprise you, see how well your reflexes are. And I can see they are not as bad as I expected."

Samantha's nostrils flared, but she kept control of herself. She really wanted to show how good she really was, but thought better to fight someone so aged. Her eyes flitted to the doors, wondering whether she should just leave.

"You may leave if you want. I am not holding you here." Nuada told the woman as he noticed her glance at the door

She nodded and walked past him, her bare arm brushing against his silk shirt. She shivered at the touch, the silk smooth against her skin. As she placed a small hand on the door, she heard Nuada call out.

"If you ever wish to spar with anyone other than yourself, I may consider it."

Samantha turned her head and glanced at him before nodding once. Rushing out of the room, she quickly walked back to her room.

Nuada stood there in the library, spear in his hand. Sighing, he looked away from the door, twirling his spear once. He walked a little, his foot coming in contact with something in the ground. Looking down, he saw one of Samantha's Sais on the ground.

Sighing, he bent down, grabbing the weapon. He held it in his hand, debating if he should return the weapon to her. Too tired to be cruel at the moment, Nuada minimized his spear and walked out of the library. He knew that if he didn't return it to her, she would no doubt come back for it and disturb his own practice, knowing that he would be there.


	3. Chapter 3

Nuada walked through the halls, coming upon a map on the wall. Stopping, he looked it over and scanned for Samantha's room. His fingers traced along the halls until he found a room that said, 'Samantha'.

He walked towards her room, her Sai in his hand. He soon came upon her door, which was slightly open. Walking over to it, he placed a firm hand on it and pushed. Nuada expected the door to move, yet it didn't budge a bit. Confused, he pushed harder, finding the door jammed.

Sighing, he tucked her sai in his sash neatly and placed both hands on the door, pushing roughly. The door gave way and opened enough for him to squeeze through. As he entered, he looked back at the door, glaring at it. As he turned around, he saw that Samantha was preoccupied with something.

Nuada walked over to her, tapping her slightly on her shoulder. This action alone was enough to scare the poor woman, and she dropped the item that she was holding. The item fell and came crashing to the floor, cracking. Samantha gasped, her eyes widening.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Nuada said, crouching to pick up the shards.

Samantha glared at him, annoyed that he had been able to surprise her. She looked up at the door to see it had opened wider. Then and there, she decided it _would_ be best to close the door, no matter the hassle.

"Here," Nuada said, standing up

He reached behind his back with his free hand and brought her Sai in front of him. When her eyes rested upon her Sai, she sighed, relieved. Gingerly, she grabbed the Sai from his hand, opening her mouth as though she was going to say something. Instead, Samantha coughed, covering the fact that she was going to try and say thank you.

"You can go to the library and take some books. It seems this place is a little…boring," Nuada said looking around.

Samantha nodded, mentally agreeing with him. The only thing fun in this room was probably the cockroach she had seen earlier near her bed.

"And you may want to check with Manning about that door," he said heading out.

Samantha smiled, now knowing that it wasn't just her imagination that the door was evil.

Nuada glanced back at her briefly before stepping towards the door.

Samantha raised a hand to him, as though telling him to stop. He turned around, hearing a little squeak escape from her lips. Raising an eyebrow at her, he watched as she pointed to his hand where he was clutching the broken shards. Nuada opened his palm and noticed that he gripped the shards too hard, many of them turning to tinier pieces.

He looked up into Samantha's face and saw her crestfallen face at the pieces.

"Sorry," he muttered, dropping the shards into her open palms.

Samantha nodded, feeling a little angry that he had made them worse. She turned around, placing the pieces on a random vacant shelf of the bookshelf. She could at least try to repair it before Manning found out she had broken one of the vases. Turning her head, she looked around the room to find that Nuada had left her standing there alone.

Twirling her Sai in her hand, she turned it so that the knuckle part was resting upwards. Careful not to jab herself, she placed the other Sai in her belt, where the other already rested. Sighing, she walked out of the door, cracking her knuckles.

Grabbing the handle of the door with both hands, she pulled roughly on the door, hearing the awful squeaks it gave off. The door inched its way closed, Samantha's knuckles turning deathly white from her grip on the door. Just as the door was a few inches from being closed, it gave way, slamming completely shut quickly. Caught off guard, Samantha's grip released from the door and she stumbled back, quickly gaining her composure before she fell.

Samantha growled at the door, her fists shaking at her side. Shaking her head, she threw her hands in the air, giving up on even trying to figure the door out. Turning around, Samantha made her way to the library.

As she entered the library, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw no one in there, especially Nuada. Stepping in, Samantha closed the door fully this time, not wanting to be surprised again.

Walking up to the book-filled shelves; she lifted her hand, tracing her fingers amongst the many bindings of the books. Her eyes traveled with her finger, reading the many titles of the books, many of them being in different languages. Her eyes rested upon a certain book however, as the language seemed ancient.

Grabbing the book, she stopped walking and opened it to a random page. She noticed that some of it was in English, yet most of it was in another language. On first glance, it looked as though the language was in Gaelic. With her eyes still on the book, Samantha walked over to a chair, sat down and placed the book on the desk.

Looking closer, Samantha realized that some of the words she could understand, as she had taught herself Gaelic when she was younger. After realizing that she could travel around the world and no one would question her about the past, Samantha had started to travel. She had gone to one of the largest libraries in the world, The British Library in the United Kingdom. Samantha was always fond of reading, it being the only hobby she had as she didn't want to interact with other people, scared of what she might do to them, or worse, what they might to do her if they had somehow found out about her powers.

There, she had found a map of a place she never heard of. It had seemed interesting to her, yet she couldn't read it as it was in another language. Samantha then took up the time to learn the language. Learning that it was Irish Gaelic, she traveled to Ireland, spending a year there to learn it.

However, some of the words were not in Gaelic, being a bit more difficult to understand. Samantha raised her eyes from the book, grabbing a random pen and a piece of paper.

She immediately went to work on translating the book, her mind racking for all the information she knew on the Gaelic languages.

By the end of a few hours, Samantha was able to translate a fourth of the book, with some words still blank as they were too difficult for her to translate. Samantha had started to think that this language was not Gaelic, rather another language similar to it. She did not know of any language though that held the same words as Gaelic. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes, which felt as heavy as lead, threatening to fall closed at any moment. Her hand was sore from writing so many translated words. Scrap paper was strewn across the desk, most of it having words written down with slashes going through them.

Samantha placed the pen down, grabbing a scrap of paper and folding it into a temporary bookmarker. She placed it in the page she had left off, closing it. All Samantha knew was that the book had contained a legend of some sort. Too tired to register anything, she placed her arms on the desk, crossing them.

Sighing, she placed her head in her arms, closing her eyes. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was the sound of the library doors opening.


	4. Chapter 4

Nuada walked towards the library, his only training ground in the whole bureau. As he entered, his eyes somehow wandered over to the desk that sat near the end of the library. He sighed when he saw Samantha with her head buried in her arms, sleeping on the desk.

Walking over to her, he looked down at her work in curiosity. He grabbed a paper from the desk that she was not lying on top of, to get a closer look at what she was doing. His eyes widened as he saw the translations of Elvish written on the paper.

Lowering the paper, he looked down at Samantha that was sleeping peacefully. He couldn't believe that a human knew his language. Setting the paper down, he peered under her head and through her hair the title of the book. He realized she was reading, "Gremlins, Goblins and Ogres." It was a fairly thick book and by the book marker, he could tell she was able to read at least a fourth of it.

Nuada then shook it off, going to do what he came to do; train. Walking down the stairs, he lengthened his spear, twirling it multiple times in his hand. Taking no hesitation in starting, Nuada sliced through the air, barely making a sound. Silent, yet deadly.

Samantha woke up, her neck stiff from staying in the same position for God knows how long. Lifting her head out of her arms, she stretched them high above her head.

"I see you are awake." she heard.

Samantha immediately dropped her arms, her head snapping in the direction of the voice. Her eyes came upon Nuada, who was standing in the middle of the library, holding the spear over his shoulder. His breathing was a bit uneven as perspiration had already settled onto his body.

"You know the Elvish language I can see," he said pointing with his spear at her work.

Samantha moved her hands away from the paper and looked down. He was referring to the translations she had done on the book she was sleeping on. Her eyes enlarged as she soon realized why she couldn't understand some of the words, as they were not in Gaelic, it rather being his language; what he called Elvish.

"Now tell me, how is it a human like you, who never knew about my kind until today, knows the Elvish language."

Samantha opened her mouth but quickly closed it, deciding against explaining about her traveling days. She heard him sigh and heard his almost silent footsteps come nearer. Looking up from the paper, she saw him right in front of her. Being the short person she was and him being tall, her face came in contact with his abs when she was sitting down. Blushing, Samantha diverted her eyes back to the pieces of paper.

"I can tell though that you do not fully understand it. As you left some words blank while others are wrong in meaning," he said pointing to an empty space in a sentence she had translated.

When Nuada didn't hear or see any movement from Samantha he sat down.

"If you wish, I can teach you how to read Elvish," he suggested, though silently wished he hadn't.

Samantha turned to look at Nuada with bright eyes. She smiled and nodded furiously, excited that she was going to be able to read another language, this one being an ancient language. Nuada nodded and set his spear down on the desk, grabbing the book. Opening the page to where she left off, Nuada crinkled his nose in disgust at the book.

"Ogres. What vile creatures," he muttered.

Samantha looked at him in confusion. The ogres she had come to learn about were only creatures that people found disturbing or frightening. No harm in them. Apparently, Nuada saw her expression and smirked.

"These ogres are different from the kind you know about. The ogres of my world eat humans, yet, once in a while, there are some that will only eat animals," he explained to her.

Samantha's eyes widened and Nuada continued,

"I heard that this is to be your first mission. A few ogres have decided to live in abandoned buildings around here and have started to feed on people that pass by their territory. You are supposed to come with us to help us get rid of them."

Fear flashed across her face and Nuada smirked, clearly enjoying how he was frightening the young woman. Closing the book, he set it back down on the desk.

"Don't worry though. With your skills, you may be able to kill them off before they eat you," he teased.

Samantha cringed as he said the word, kill. She did not wish to kill them, even if they were creatures that _ate_ people. Unfortunately, she had agreed to work for the BPRD, and killing creatures that harmed people was part of the deal.

Nuada stared at Samantha and wondered why she had suddenly become quiet. He then realized that she probably did not like to harm things since her incident. Sighing, he stood up from his chair and walked over to her. He tapped her on her shoulder to get her attention.

"You don't like killing do you?" he asked.

"No," Samantha replied quietly

The simple 'no' that had escaped her lips was barely above a whisper. Nuada could barely hear it, and the movement of her lips was the only way he could confirm that she had indeed speak to him.

"Would you rather they kill you?" he asked her.

Samantha sighed, knowing that it was true. There were many people in the world that wouldn't give a second thought on what they were doing so why shouldn't mythical creatures do the same? If she were ever in a life or death situation, Samantha would have to kill, it being the only option besides letting herself be killed.

"I must say though, you have relatively sufficient fighting skills. They could be improved, but I am… willing to help you," Nuada said standing up.

Samantha snapped her head up at his assumption of her skills. She stood up and grabbed both her Sais, glaring slightly at him. She then used one of her Sais and poked him in the chest lightly, watching as an amused expression flashed across his face.

"Ah, you think you are better than me," Nuada said getting the point.

Nodding furiously, Nuada chuckled at her and walked back to his spear, grabbing it. Nuada faced the spear towards her, letting it lengthen in his hand. The spear moved towards her face, yet Samantha made no effort to move. As the spear stopped, the tip of it was barely touching her nose. Lifting her hand, she moved the spear away from her face with her Sai.

"Well, let's test that and see if you are. Though I seriously doubt it," he said confidently.

Samantha smiled at him; however, a thought appeared in her mind, making her smile falter. Nuada noticed this.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

Samantha stared down at her shadow, watching as it rose from the ground. She glanced at her replica and looked back at Nuada who shook his head.

"No powers, only skills."

Samantha sighed sadly and gave her shadow an apologetic look. Her shadow shrugged, swirling back into the ground, becoming her shadow once again.

"Now the rules are simple, first one to lose their weapon, or in your case, weapons; will be the loser. Simple enough?" he asked her.

Samantha nodded and Nuada smirked, muttering a 'good'. Without warning, Nuada turned his spear and swung it at Samantha. The flat side of the blade would have connected with her cheek if she had not ducked at the last second. Smiling, Samantha knew Nuada wasn't going to go easy on her, no matter what.

Samantha and Nuada had been fighting for almost an hour. Their bodies had gleamed with sweat, yet neither of them showed signs of tiring. However, Nuada had decided to dampen his skills somewhat when his spear almost caught her several times. Her stamina was impressive, even if her skills were not. That is, until the library doors opened, distracting Nuada just for a moment. Samantha beamed at her chance and didn't hesitate in taking it.

Dropping one of her Sais, she grabbed the handle of the spear, swiftly kicking it from underneath. Distracted, Nuada's grasp on the handle was loose, making her kick strong enough to send the handle flying out of his hand. She twirled the spear in her hand, making the blade face Nuada. She swung the blade for Nuada, stopping at the very last second, the blade hovering only millimeters away from his skin.

Nuada cursed at himself for letting a human unarm him. He felt the cool metal brush against his skin lightly, making him shudder. The blade soon disappeared and he watched as Samantha twirled the spear in her hand, making the handle face him, instead of the blade. Sighing, he grabbed the handle, reclaiming his weapon.

Looking towards the door, Nuada saw his sister standing there, looking quite shocked.

"Nuala," he said through gritted teeth.

"Brother, did Samantha - " she started but he cut her off.

"Yes, but do not tell anyone of this," he said.

"Of course not!" she said waving her hands in the air defensively.

"I'll leave you two, to well... continue," she said walking backwards, out of the library.

Nuada then turned his attention back to Samantha when he heard the library doors shut. She had a small smirk on her face and he glowered at her, giving her the same warning.

"You do not tell anyone else about this," he said, glaring fiercely at her.

She smiled at him and nodded once. Nuada though could still see a mischievous glint in her eyes. Glaring at her slightly, she turned her back to him. Nuada sighed, not truly understanding this girl.

Samantha could be at times, a friendly and outgoing person when she wanted to be. Yet sometimes, she could be shy and timid, wanting to hide herself from the world. Nuada couldn't understand why she couldn't be just one thing, and not two, making him confused. Besides that, something about her intrigued him. Whether it being her unusual eye color, her personality, or just the way she made him feel at some times.

Nuada shook his head, pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. He did not have the time to ponder about some human girl that had just joined the team. He just needed to think about ways of getting out of this hell hole.


End file.
